Fategungnir
by UltimateFanJob123 - Beta 27
Summary: What would happen if someone found Shirou before Rin? And they were part of a certain interdimensional orginization? A missed chance is what. Time-Space Administration Bureau Captain Kieren Gallagher, last of the Al Hazard, is dragged into a war he had no idea about. And when a captain is dragged in, you can expect other to join in as well. Rated for language and violence.
1. A Missed Chance and A Strange Summoning

Summary: A simple encounter leads to dramatic changes in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Instead of Shirou summon Saber, a certain Al Hazard mage does instead. What will happen when the most powerful mage in TSAB history participates in the Heaven's Feel? And what consequences will this have for both TSAB, and Clock Tower?

**Eeyo! UFJ123 – Beta 27 here, with something I came up with while getting inspiration for my next chapter of _Magical Device Gungnir_. I've read a lot of MGLNxF/sn crossovers, but I've never seen one where one of the Master's is replaced by someone from Nanohaverse. This is my attempt at adding that to the list. In this case, it's Shirou being replaced by _moi_ from _Magical Device Gungnir_, albeit, five years on, and now one of the more powerful mages of TSAB. This story takes place between _Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's_ and _StrikerS_ with some changes. In this AU, the A's ended differently, with the Tome being lost to Dimensional Space, to end up who knows where, but Signum, Vita, Shamal, Zafira and Reinforce being separated from the Book by... well... me, the last of the Al Hazard, through careful application of the nine Jewel Seeds and three Control Crystals (essentially Jewel Seeds that stabilize the power of the other 21 Jewel Seeds, leading to no dimensional detonations from the Jewel Seeds use). Still, I won't spoil _MDG_ any further than that.**

**Anyway, on with the show.**

**Pairing will end up as a threesome (sometimes foursome) between my OC, Fate, Saber, and occasionally Nanoha, who just joins in for s**ts and giggles, embarrassing the crap out of both myself and Fate.**

**V*V*V*V**

**Chapter 1**

**A Missed Chance and A Strange Summoning**

**V*V*V*V**

Pain.

That was the first thing that ripped through Shirou's mind as the barbed, red spear pass through his chest over his heart, emerging from his back in an explosion of red.

"Sorry 'bout that," his blue-clad killer said, pulling the spear from his chest. "No hard feelings, but, you saw something you shouldn't have."

With that, the spearman left, and Shirou slumped to the ground, the edges of his vision growing dark.

Now, normally, a red-clad brunette would've come along and healed him a minute later, but this isn't that story. In this one, someone else came along less than five seconds later.

"Fuck," was all he heard.

_I can't die like this!_ Shirou screamed in his mind. _I haven't become a hero yet!_

The sound of feet on the ground alerted him to the presence of someone else in the corridor with him.

"This is Captain Kieren Gallagher! I'm in need of immediate evac! I have a medical emergency down here!"

Shirou blinked. His hearing was getting fuzzy, his vision dark. But even through that, he felt a large amount of magic building up, and a yellow light along with a warm feeling and a strange hum filled his being.

Before he fell unconscious however, he saw the plaster and concrete wall of the school replaced by metal bulkheads and doors. With that his eyes closed, even as people dressed in strange clothes rushed to help him.

And with that, Shirou Emiya was no longer viable for participation in the Holy Grail War. Instead, the person who saved his life, joined, and unknowingly became the seventh Master.

**V*V*V*V**

"How's our guest?" Capt. Kieren Gallagher, CO of the _L_-class dimensional cruiser, _Arthra_, mage in the employ of the Time-Space Administration Bureau and last of the Al Hazard asked Healer Tracy Whitcomb.

"Holding up. He took a lot of damage before you got to him. Had you not gotten to him when you did, I doubt he would still be alive," she answered.

Kieren nodded in response. "And the damage?"

"His heart had a massive hole in it, as did his chest and back. A large concentration of magic was keeping it from healing, but we managed to siphon that off and repair both his heart and the area around it," Tracy answered. "He'll live, but he won't be very active for at least three weeks."

That caused Kieren to raise an eyebrow.

"Three weeks?"

"His Linker Core, a very active one at that, very different from most Earth mages, is helping with the healing process, channeling magic to the affected areas. But there's something else. Something powerful."

"Is it affecting him in any way?"

"Apart from accelerating his healing to what yours was when you joined, and making him the healthiest person I've ever seen or worked on? No, it isn't. In fact, it's thanks to that object that he survived in the first place, even with your assistance."

"That's a relief. He's just a kid."

"So are most people in TSAB."

"You have a point. He doesn't look much older than I am."

"Probably because he's not. You are the oldest out of the Earth mages we've discovered so far."

"What about Admiral Graham?" Kieren asked. The admiral in question was none other than British born Gil Graham, who was in his forties and the instigator of the Book of Darkness incident a year before Kieren and Nanoha even discovered magic existed.

"He doesn't count. He came to us, not the other way round."

Kieren nodded in acceptance. That was partially true. Graham had suddenly appeared out the front of TSAB Headquarters on Mid-Childa after an accident almost took his life. When he was examined, they discovered he had a larger than average Linker Core, putting out about a million units of magic. And he was twelve when he was found. Nanoha had 1.26 million units, Fate 1.47 million. And then there was Kieren, the walking contradiction and magic battery. Even before he started using magic, he had a massive 102.5 million units of magic, and some of that was leaking off of him constantly, around 1500 units of magic, the same amount that the boy they were currently standing over had in his entire body, so in reality, Kieren only had 102.485 million units of magic available for use, and that was _before_ acquiring his Magical Device, Gungnir, which was currently in its gauntlet like stand by form on his right arm. Now though, five years later, he had almost 200 million units of magic ready to be called upon, allowing him to pretty much spam S-ranked spells like they were going out of fashion. However, he could only use his own recently developed – and quite literally forbidden to use – Solar Storm SSS-ranked spell _once_ before he ran out of steam. Considering said spell had the power of a small nuclear bomb, that was understandable. He'd only ever used it one, and his girlfriend, Fate T. Harlaown, had beaten him quite thoroughly for using it and making her worried for his life.

Afterwards, Kieren swore to never use Solar Storm unless in the most extreme of circumstances. No-one on board the _Arthra_ knew that the War that their captain had unknowingly volunteered for would fall under those 'extreme circumstances' more than once. Kieren started to feel exhausted when his magic reserves reached around about 25,000 units, and fell unconscious at around 9500 units. And with each S-ranked spell he used consuming on average 5000 units of magic, he only had four good shots in him left by the time he felt exhausted. Solar Storm, consumed 150 million units, a good eighty-five percent of his reserves.

"Keep me informed of his condition, I'm heading back down to scout the area, and see if I can't find out what caused that wound."

"Yes sir."

With that, Kieren left the medical bay, heading for the teleportation room to head back Fuyuki City.

**V*V*V*V**

In a flash of light, Kieren appeared in an alley way not far from the residence of one Shirou Emiya. Looking around to see if anyone was coming to investigate, he slowly raised his arm to his mouth.

"Gungnir?" he whispered.

The Device let out a small tone, before there was another brief flare of light, and a staff appeared in his hands. His clothes had also changed from the standard TSAB captains uniform into something that would look more appropriate if it was massive and a robot. Considering he'd based his Assault Mode Barrier Jacket off of the ∞ Justice GUNDAM, it wasn't surprising in the least, but at least he was less Gundam-like than Nanoha. His Air Assault Mode Barrier Jacket took it a bit further towards the ∞ Justice by adding wings which could be deployed like the Dragoon System, but still looked the same as his current one.

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get distracted, he had a job to do. Walking up to the front gates to the spacious traditional Japanese pavilion, he opened the and walked in.

[Domine. Campum circa compositum reagens ad presentiam nostram.]

_Sir. A field around the compound is reacting to our presence._

"I felt it, Gungnir."

It was kind of hard not to. The air was saturated with magic.

"Gungnir, initiate a Wide Area Search."

[Domine.]

Several orange-red spheres appeared in the air around Kieren, before shooting off in every direction. Kieren closed his eyes, and suddenly he could 'see' the entire compound. Wide Area Search was a spell that Nanoha developed with assistance from Kieren and their devices Raising Heart and Gungnir to find the Jewel Seeds, or, if you called them by their proper name, Antaria Crystals.

He could feel a large concentration of magic not far from his position so he opened his eyes and walked over to it. Opening the garage door, he saw something that surprised him.

"This looks more like a mechanics than magical workshop," he muttered.

[Potissimum items intus, firmant, cum magica, domine.] Gungnir announced.

_Most of the items inside are strengthened by magic, sir._

Kieren nodded, picking up a crow bar in his left hand, letting his right hand continue to hold Gungnir's Sealing Mode loosely.

[Domine! Videte et!]

_Sir! Watch out!_

Kieren jumped, dropping the crowbar, just as a blood red spear passed through where he was less than a second ago.

"Gungnir!"

[Domine! Halberd formam.]

Gungnir glowed with a red-orange light, before the head of the staff shifted and morphed into a leaf-like blade about three feet long and half a foot wide at the base. The glow vanished, revealing the sharpened wings that formed the blades of Gungnir's Halberd Form. With another quick thought, the wings of Kieren's Air Assault Mode Barrier Jacket appeared hover slightly behind his back, increasing his speed almost a hundred times. While he could still fly by using the Flier Fin spell, using his Air Assault Mode Barrier Jacket allowed him to move faster than sound. His max speed had been clocked at just over Mach 13, which, due in part to the relatively low mass of a human compared to the power of the engines built into the wings, was more than capable of getting him over 300 kilometers from the Earth's surface. Currently, the wings were folded and the engines were offline. A slight twitch was all that was needed for four small objects that looked like small blades to separate from the wings and take up a loose formation around him as he landed lightly on the roof of the workshop.

Standing on the ground twenty meters away, a negligible distance to him in this state, was a blue-clad, blue haired man with golden earings and a blood-red spear gripped loosely in his hands.

"Yo," the man greeted casually, as if he hadn't just tried to stab Kieren through the heart, a grin spreading across his face. "You're pretty fast for a human."

"I thank you," Kieren said dryly. "May I ask you why you're here? You're interfering with an ongoing investigation."

"Oh ho!" the man laughed, unconcerned that he could potentially die in less than thirty seconds. Even while they were chatting, and the man's seemingly uncaring attitude, Kieren could tell the man was experienced with the spear in his hand. He was in a stance that could go from relaxed to attacking before a normal person could blink. A slight wind picked up as Kieren started to charge a spell, a more powerful version of Nanoha's Mid-Childan Axel Shooter. This one was reprogrammed to the Al Hazard style magic, and was significantly stronger than the D-ranked Axel Shooter, having the power of a low power A-ranked Mid-Childan spell. It was still a D-ranked in power compared to other Al Hazard spells, all of which only Kieren or Nanoha could use to their fullest potential, due in part to Raising Heart being an Al Hazard Magical Device and Kieren being the last living Al Hazard mage.

"No hard feelings, but I'm obligated to kill you," the blue man said, getting into a stance, his spear pointed right at Kieren's heart.

"And I'm obligated not to let you," was the TSAB captains response, getting into a similar stance, but with the halberd in his hands pointed backwards.

**V*V*V*V**

Lancer studied the oddly dressed boy in front of him. The odd stance was strange, but the familiarity the boy had with in told Lancer that he was more than capable of turning that bladed staff around quicker than normal humans could react. The strange pack on his back, which wasn't their before he moved from his previous spot was interesting as well. In fact, the boys entire outfit seemed to be made out of condensed magic.

Really. Condensed. Magic.

Unfortunately for the boy, Lancer wasn't an average human. He was a Heroic Spirit, brought back from the Throne of Heroes to take part in the Holy Grail War. And as fast as the kid was, Lancer was faster. Much faster.

A smirk spread across his face. His grip on Gáe Bolg tightened just the tiniest bit, but Lancer's smirk widened when he noticed the boy tense, obviously prepared for anything. Unlike with swords, you had to keep one eye on your opponent and one eye on the spear, as the tip could come out of nowhere and catch you unawares if you didn't. The length of the spear also counted. The longer the spear, the faster the tip could move, the shorter, the quicker the wielder could react, and the more control they had over its direction.

It was only his status as a Servant that saved him from the literal hail of orange-red bolts of energy that exploded towards him from all around the boy, at the same time, the boy almost vanished from even Lancer's sight. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he had to deflect an incredibly fast and strong swipe from behind.

Lancer's eyes widened. Even with his strength and speed, he was going to be hard pressed to keep up with this kid if he didn't take this fight seriously.

_How is this kid that fast?! _Lancer thought, deflecting another blow coming from the complete opposite direction. The kid had changed direction the instant their weapons had made contact. _And strong?!_ He continued with a grunt.

Several more blows were exchanged in rapid succession, Lancer deflecting each one with some effort, due to not having time to recover from his shock at a human moving at the speed and with the strength of a Servant. Heck, if he weren't the Lancer of this war, he'd almost fool himself into thinking that this kid was.

The two separated, landing a good forty meters apart.

"Keh... You're good kid. I might have to take this fight seriously," Lancer said.

"It's in my opinion to always take your fights seriously," the boy answered with a slight smirk. "Less chance of underestimating your opponent."

"If it weren't for my Master telling me to gather info during the first fight, than go all out in the second encounter, you'd be dead by now."

"Your Master?" the kid asked curiously.

"Yep. He's kind of a coward, so no hard feelings."

"None taken. You are quite skilled with that spear."

"Same to you," Lancer responded. "I just realized, we haven't introduced ourselves."

"..."

The kid remained silent for a few seconds, adjusting his grip on his halberd.

"... My name is Kieren."

"Kieren, huh? Interesting name. Isn't that Irish?"

"I am sixth generation Irish yes."

Lancer smirked. He was fighting a fellow kinsman, albeit, with diluted blood, but a kinsman all the same.

"Which family?"

The kid took on a thoughtful look for a second.

"O'Gallchobhair."

Lancer's eyes widened. _This kid's descended from Royalty?!_

"Though we go by Gallagher these days."

Lancer nodded.

"Well, since you introduced yourself." Lancer flourished his spear and bowed. "You may call me Servant Lancer."

"I have a feeling that isn't your real name."

"Nope."

"I see."

There was another pause, before both the O'Gallchobhair and Lancer leapt at each other once again. The sound of clashing metal filled the air once again, the two spears tracing red and gold arcs through the air, showering the two combatants in sparks as they clashed again and again. Now that Lancer was taking it seriously, he was having an easier time at keeping up with the kid, but it was still a stalemate due to his inability to go all out.

Honestly, Lancer was still slightly surprised the kid could keep up with him. While he was by no means the strongest Servant, he was one of the fastest, and this kid was moving like he keep up with his current pace on a bad day, probably keep up with him going all out. Only one other Servant was faster than he was, and that was Rider.

The red and blue blurs that they now were to anyone other than another Servant separated again, before leaping back into the fray.

_Dammit. If this doesn't end soon I'll have to pull out my Noble Phantasm,_ Lancer thought.

On the next break, the two touched down, and Lancer immediately got into a strange stance, holding his spear to the side with the tip aimed at the O'Gallchobhair's feet. The kid tensed, feeling something deep within him that told him if he didn't move, he _would_ die then and there.

"Can't believe I'm pulling this out on a human," Lancer said, the spear starting to glow. An aura of blood lust filled the air, and a nervous sweatdrop appeared on Kieren's brow.

The glow grew brighter, and Kieren tensed even more.

"Sorry about this."

Lancer tensed, before he started to move, the now brilliant glow red spear seeming to warp space.

"Gáe..."

Everything in Kieren's being screamed at him to dodge. With a slight thought, the wings on his back snapped open, the engines whining as they powered up. The wind grew stronger and stronger as he crouched. A blue-white glow came from the two engines. The whine faded to a dull roar that shook the very air with its deep, rumbling bass, the air vibrating and shaking. Lancer could feel it in his bones, but continued to swing.

"BOLG!"

Space screamed as the spear literally leapt from Lancer's hands and flew straight at the ground, before bending up at an impossible angle to strike Kieren's heart.

It was at this moment that said teen jumped forwards, the engines powering him through the air. A cone of mist formed around him as he brushed the sound barrier, before a ring of condensation shot out as the barrier _shattered_, the teen mage accelerating to almost Mach 10 in an instant. Time slowed as spear and supersonic boy approached each other. Just as they were about to collide, Kieren tilted, the spear tried to follow, but racing at over 12,000 kilometers an hour in the opposite direction, the most damage it could do was slice through his right bicep, Barrier Jacket and all.

**V*V*V*V**

Kieren grit his teeth, before pulling a turn that would normally rip a person to shreds and liquify their internal organs. His feet dug into the ground sending up dirt and rocks as he raced backwards towards the garage. He passed through the doors and hit the ground, sliding across the smoothed concrete until the wing pack hit he wall, disturbing the dust that had gathered their, and revealing something on the ground. With a grunt, he lifted his free hand to the slice, hissing slightly in pain. Pulling his hand away, he saw his fingers covered in blood.

"Dammit," he cursed.

Putting his hand down, he unknowingly put his fingers, covered in magic saturated blood, onto the symbol on the floor. A few drops of blood stayed behind as he stood, and gripped Gungnir.

[Dirigentes Modus: Standby.] Gungnir intoned

_Shooting Mode: Standby._

The blades of his Halberd Form separated from the core, rotated ninety degrees and moved closed together, even as the core split and moved back. He aimed straight at the blue-clad spearman in front of him, who was still looking stunned at the fact that he'd _dodged_ the undodgable.

A small ball of energy formed at the tip of Gungnir's Shooting Mode. It glowed as it charged more energy. With a loud tone, a glowing square with to counter-rotating circles of runes, with four mathematical symbols in circles in the corners, sprung into being beneath Kieren's feet, giving off a bright orange-red light that overpowered the faint red glow coming from the circle that was forming behind him. Lancer tensed, not knowing what was happening, but knowing that it was bad news for him.

As Kieren channeled more power from his Linker Core into the spell, he began to notice a slight drain on his reserves. A drain that growing as something sucked more and more energy from him to fuel itself. He hesitated slightly. The drain was preventing him from charging his favored long-range spell at a reasonable speed, but it was only slight.

A brief flare of red light, followed closely by a white glow came from behind him, and Lancer's jaw dropped.

"What?!"

A blue blur shot past him, slamming into Lancer with the force of a freight train and forcing him away. Kieren hurriedly canceled the Apollo's Spear he was charging, his jaw slack.

There, standing regally in front of him, holding something wrapped in a sheath of winds, was a beautiful blonde woman, with eyes the color of emeralds, which glowed with inner strength.

A delicate pink lips parted, and, with a surprisingly strong and firm voice which belied the girls petite frame, she spoke.

"By your summons I have appeared. I am Servant Saber, and I ask this of you: are you my Master?"

**V*V*V*V**

**Holy CRAP! That was hard work. Hope everyone's satisfied with my first MGLNxF/sn x-over. I hope it catches the attention of Beasts Lair.**

**Off topic. This will follow the Fate route with smatterings of Heaven's Feel of Fate/stay night. I'm doing this to give my OC an actual challenge, considering he's way OP. But hey! He's an Al Hazard mage! You've got to expect him to be. And that little conversation between myself and Lancer is true, I am part of ancient Irish royalty, but it was during the early centuries A.D. We Gallagher's have a habit of shortening things, which is what lead to our family name changing to Gallagher from O'Gallagher from O'Gallchobhair. Long story. Look it up to get a better picture.**

**Beta 27 signing off!**


	2. My Master is a What?

**Heeeeeeellllooooooooo everyone! How are you today? I am here today bring you another chapter of _Fate/gungnir_. Now, I know that it doesn't have the slash in the title, but that's just FFN being dumb and not submitting properly. This is the chapter that will get the ball rolling, and will introduce the Saber we all know and love to a world she never expected.**

**Anyway, I want to address the flame that I got for this story. Not only was it unfair and hurtful, it is also physically impossible without extensive surgery, a surgery I have not and WILL NEVER HAVE! How in God's name can I suck MYSELF off? What you did, who ever you are, using a anonymous name and account that you hid to get around the fact I have anonymous reviews turned OFF for this very reason, is called bullying. I knew and knew of several people who have KILLED themselves because they were bullied. If bullying others over the internet to avoid repercussions is how you get your jollies off, I seriously question the way your parents raised you. And yes, that was a jab at your parents and I'm unafraid to say that you'll get you just desserts later on. You will make a mistake, and I will blacklist you, meaning, you can't PM me, or review (read: flame) any of my stories. So get your head out of your arse and smell the roses once in a while. Maybe then you won't have a seriously screwed up life and actually have a chance to make friends. Also, you're a fag. Good day!**

**V*V*V*V**

**Chapter 2**

**My Master is a What?**

**V*V*V*V**

"Servant Saber, answering your summons. I ask of you: are you my Master?"

These words seemed to freeze time itself. Kieren stood stock still. He couldn't believe what had just happened. In his entire life, he never expected something like this to occur.

Kieren opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped when a sharp burning sensation ripped up his left arm. Looking at it, he saw three glowing red symbols that together made up an intricately designed sword appear on the back of his hand. The woman noticed, and her face softened slightly.

"I see. Then the contract is finalized. Please wait here, Master, while I deal with the other Servant," she said, before turning and leaping out in pursuit of Lancer.

"..."

[…]

Kieren watched from the doorway as Saber slammed her invisible sword into Lancer's spear. The shock wave produced by the two Heroic Spirits' weapons clashing kicked up a huge amount of dust, obscuring the two combatants. It was only the clang of steel on steel that told Kieren they were still going at it.

"Dammit! Hold still!"

"Why would I do that?"

The casual and frustrated banter continued, even as the dust started to settle, revealing the two locked together, Saber's invisible sword grinding against the spear.

"Quit hiding your weapon! And which class are you?" Lancer asked as they broke apart.

"Why should I?" Saber asked in reply. "And you never know. My weapon could be a spear, or even a bow for all you know."

"If it weren't for the fact that I'm the Lancer of this War, and I hadn't already encountered Archer, I'd almost believe you... Saber."

The two charged again, clashing in the middle and sending out a violent gust of wind.

"Gungnir...?"

[Intuens … Pugnatrix CONTIGER habet sequenti civitas: Volo – A; Defensio – B; FORTITUDO – C +; PERNICITAS – A +. Ipse sit etiam emittens C-praeferebantur Anti-Magia ager. Pugnatrix ACINACES habet sequenti civitas: Volo – B +; Defensio – A; FORTITUDO – AA; PERNICITAS – B + +. Ipsa est et excludens an A-praeferebantur Anti-Magia ager.] Gungnir announced.

_Scanning... Combatant Lancer has the following stats: Speed – A; Defense – B; Physical Strength – C+; Agility – A+. He is also emitting a C-ranked Anti-Magic Field. Combatant Saber has the following stats: Speed – B+; Defense – A; Physical Strength – AA; Agility – B++. She is also emitting an A-ranked Anti-Magic Field._

"... AMF's...?"

Anti-Magic Field were a Mages worst nightmare. Depending on the strength, it could slow down mana collection, thereby slowing down charging time for spells that needed them, and adding a charging time for those that didn't, to completely nullifying any sort of magic. An A-ranked Anti-Magic Field was strong enough to halt the use of any spell below A-rank, and severely affected the amount of time it took to charge spells above. A spell of equal rank would take almost twenty times longer to charge than normal, and S-ranked spells would take on average five times longer. The only spell that Kieren knew of that wasn't affected by Anti-Magic Fields was Nanoha's Starlight Breaker, and that was only because it relied more on ambient magic in the air than the casters own supply.

Besides that, Kieren noticed something strange. Even with the AMF's, his magic was responding just fine. No sluggishness and no feeling of having a hot poker shoved down his spine. Everyone had a different reaction to AMF's, but the most common was the feeling of nausea. To Kieren, being near or in an AMF felt like he was having a red hot iron poker shoved down his back, so that told him one of two things: either the AMF the two fighting in front of him had worked differently, and only really affected active effects like spell impacts, or it only affected Earth mages. He was inclined to believe it was the former.

Kieren's eyes widened when Lancer got into the same stance that had almost killed him. Thinking quickly, he started to charge one of his more powerful moves to somewhat negate the effect of the AMF. The familiar red-orange square appeared beneath his feet. Pointing Gungnir's tip at the blue-clad Lancer, who had focused entirely on his own target, he started to charge.

"Never thought I'd have to use my own Noble Phantasm _TWICE_ in one night!" Lancer said, a frown settling on his face.

Saber's eyes widened slightly, both at the fact Lancer was pulling out his Noble Phantasm, and at the fact he'd already used it tonight.

Saber gripped Invisible Air, when she heard three rapid clacks, similar to the sound of Kiritsugu's Thompson Contender being cocked. Magic saturated the air, condensing to a degree that worried even her. Turning her head slightly, she looked out the corner of her eye and saw her Master holding his staff, a glowing red-orange light emanating from the ground around his feet, a similar colored ball the size of a small melon hovering at the end. Four glowing red-orange wings sprouted from the ends of the four prongs. The look on her Master's face told her everything she needed to know.

She needed to move. Now.

Without thinking she leapt clear, surprising Lancer, but then his eyes widened when he saw what was behind her.

"Buster Three!" Kieren shouted.

The glowing ball increased in size rapidly, expanding to three times its original size in an instant.

"Apollo's..."

Lancer's eyes widened even further. Not many modern magi could produce a spell powerful enough to overwhelm an Servant's Magical Resistance (if they had one), and his own C-ranked Magical Resistance was nothing to sneeze at, but this kid! He was charging a spell capable of getting past Saber's own A-_ranked_ Magical Resistance! On his own!

"SPEAR!"

A lance of red-orange energy raced towards him, screaming through the air. He canceled his Noble Phantasm and jumped. Just in time to.

The beam raced under him, gouging a wide trench in the ground just from its passage, kicking up a huge amount of dust and debris. It slammed into the walls surrounding the compound. Walls built to survive earthquakes and reinforced with magic to weather assaults from everything short of an Apostle Ancestor or a Servant.

A punched right through. The reinforcement counted for nothing under the tightly packed precision strike. The beam continued into the small woods behind the compound, knocking over trees and carving a path of destruction almost half a mile long before it hit something it couldn't batter down.

… And detonated.

The massive boom shook the very atoms of the air, jarring Lancer's bones. The winds were whipped into a frenzy. Birds that were previously asleep exploded into the air in a startled frenzy, fleeing from their perches. Dogs in the surrounding neighborhood started baying at the sky, all in the general direction of the detonation.

Lancer touched down and jumped back several times to get clear of the dust cloud, his eyes wide with shock and awe. He looked over at the teen who'd fired the spell, and saw him panting slightly. It seemed the kid did have limits. Summoning and maintaining a Servant was a costly experience, and using a spell of that power shortly afterward put even greater strain on the kids weird Magic Circuits. While he was no Caster, his experience with runes allowed him some insight into a magus' magic. Where most people had their Circuits in a uniform fashion from head to toe, this kids seemed to originate from a veritable mana battery in the middle of his chest. He could barely make out individual circuits they were that tightly packed around the core. It was if the kid had a Magic Core _and_ Magic Circuits at the same time, or as if someone had given him a Magic Core and added the circuits as mere afterthought, given their relatively low quality in comparison to the core. The ones going through his arms were almost of the same quality as the core itself. Compared to a normal magus, his circuits were of a startlingly high quality, a quality that could only come from years of Reinforcement.

Lancer quickly refocused his priorities when Saber came down from above, a warcry passing her lips as she slammed her invisible sword down on top of him, sending up a veritable plume of dirt and dust.

Lancer jumped from the cloud, landing on the damaged wall section, panting heavily. He'd been pushed to his currently lowered limits, but he'd be fine the next time he encountered these two.

"Sorry. But I have to go. My Master's a bit of a coward. As much as I'd like to stay, my Master ordered me to return."

With that he turned and was about to leap away when Saber interrupted him.

"Wait!" she shouted. "We still have a fight to finish!"

Lancer turned slightly. "You're welcome to follow if you want to die," he said, before vanishing into the distance, nothing more than an indistinct blue blur. Saber huffed, and released some of the pressure she was exerting on her sword, letting the tip hit the ground. Meanwhile, Kieren finally caught his breath, straightening up from his slightly slumped posture, Gungnir hanging loosely in his hand. The motion, however, reminded him that he had a three inch long inch deep slice in his bicep, which angrily protested the movement, sending a dagger of pain straight through his brain. He gasped, Gungnir dropping to the ground from suddenly numb finger, and clenched the wound with his left hand. He fell to his knees from the pain. Normally, his pain tolerance would allow him to ignore most of the pain, only allowing a dull throb through, but the movement of such an important muscle, combine with the magic that saturated it, overcame that quite easily.

It was his gasp that caused Saber to whirl around to face a new enemy, only to spot her Master on the ground, his staff next to him, clutching his arm, his face scrunched up in pain.

"Master!" she shouted, dashing over to him and kneeling next to him, her eyes filled with worry. "Are you hurt? Did Lancer injure you?"

"What do you think?!" Kieren ground out through clenched teeth, his sarcastic side taking the fore in his current state. Normally, he was fairly calm, however, when injured, he tended to enter what Nanoha called "Sarcasm Mode". In this state, everything he said positively dripped with sarcasm, and people tended to look at him like he was bipolar, normally used to his calm, if blunt, personality. People who didn't know him looked on in confusion, question their previous thoughts on him. It was the same thing going through Saber's mind briefly before she saw the dark, crimson liquid that gave life to all beings leaking through his fingers, staining the skin red. She was quite confused when she noticed that his clothes weren't darkening from the blood, and reached out to pull his hand away so she could see the wound, only to blink in confusion as his clothes started to buzz, crackle and fade when her armored hand touched his.

_His clothes are made of mana?_ Saber thought. Her own armor was also made out of mana, so she knew it could be done, but for an apparently normal human to have the reserves to do so? Admittedly, she could feel an incredibly large amount of prana being diverted to her from his circuits to keep her in this world, an amount that made it impossible for her to astralize her form, so she believed it could indeed be possible.

The slight contact however, had put a small amount of pressure in the wrong spot, which caused her Master to wince, a silent his escaping his clenched teeth.

"Sorry," Saber apologized. "I'm just trying to help."

"It's okay, really. Can you please pick up Gungnir."

Saber looked down at the black, gold and silver staff. The gem in the head had a slight crack, a crack that was close to vanishing from some kind of magic. Picking it up by one of the grips, she held it out for her Master, who thanked her and gripped it with his left, blood covered hand, marring the shiny metal with crimson streaks as the staff slid through his fingers before the grip caught on the side of his closed hand.

"Gungnir, get me a direct link to the _Arthra_," Kieren said.

[Etiam domine … Conexiones stabilientur.]

_Yes sir... Connection established._

Saber jumped slightly and blinked at the Latin coming from the staff. The voice, which sounded male, had a strange mechanical edge to it, and seemed rather flat, but she could pick up the slight panic in its tone. Whomever had built this mystic code, which she now believe it to be, was incredibly skilled.

"This is Captain Kieren Gallagher to the _Arthra_. Do you copy?"

{_Captain? Is that you? We picked up a massive magical discharge in your area. Are you okay?_} A female voice, this time clearly human, suddenly emanated from staff. Saber's eyes filled with confusion.

"I'm fine, Amy," he Master answered with a hard edge to his voice. "Could you please lock onto my position for teleportation?"

{_Ah! Y-yes sir! Locking onto your magical signature now!_}

Saber's eyes widened as a glowing yellow magical array appeared on the ground for ten feet around them, centered on her Master. Even above the hum, she though she heard someone say in a cheery voice something about 'sarcasm mode', or something like that. Then, the world flashed, and the courtyard was suddenly replaced by a closed room with five, white walls, a single door off to the side, a pale blue ceiling and grey floor.

The glow quickly faded, even as Saber tensed from the suddenness of what had just happened, but her guard didn't drop, even as four people dressed in black outfits ran in and aimed long staffs at her. She clenched Invisible Air, ready for anything.

"Stand down!" her Master barked.

The three males and one female flinched, but lowered their aim, still ready for anything.

"Captain," the female spoke, apparently the leader from her gold epaulets, whereas the others had silver. "Are you alright."

"Have a slight scratch," Saber heard her Master say, this time picking up the large amount of sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Other than some minor magical exhaustion, I'm just peachy!"

The door hissed open, and a blue blur raced through and slammed into her Master with a cry of "Kieren!"

Saber blinked when she saw the cause. Holding her Master in a tight hold and fussing over him like a mother hen, was a blonde long haired, red eyed young woman no taller than Saber herself was, dressed in a blue suit and skirt. Gold epaulets adorned her shoulders, and several colored strips of fabric and medals took up a section over the left hand said of her jacket. A strange circular symbol was stitched to the fabric of her jackets arm.

"Are you hurt? Are you alright? You're not feeling sick are you?" the young woman asked at a rapid pace, causing Saber to wonder if she had even stopped to breath as she continued to fuss over her Master.

"Fate," her Master started. The woman continued to dote on him, causing a tick mark to form on his forehead. "Fate!"

The woman, now known to Saber as Fate, stopped and looked into her Master's grey-blue eyes.

"I'm fine. Okay. Nothing a quick visit to the medical bay can't fix."

Fate nodded, tears forming in her eyes as Saber watched her Master wrap her up in a one armed hug. The strange winged pack on her Master's back glowed before disintegrating into flecks of dispersing mana. Two more people entered the room, a brunette in similar attire to Fate, and a green haired older woman dressed in white clothing with black stockings and shoes. The brunette pulled the blonde away from her Master as the apparent doctor started to go to work on Kieren's arm, pulling out a strange device and holding it to his arm. Saber watched in awe as a stream of glowing red mana came from the wound and was absorbed by the device, before a green glow washed over the wound, sealing it and leaving nothing but a slight scar.

"There your go, sir. All better. But I advise you don't do anything to intensive for at least forty-eight hours," the healer said.

"Thanks for that, doctor."

"Any time."

"Kieren?" Fate asked, eying Saber with a slight glare of jealousy.

"Hmm?"

"Who is she?"

Kieren followed Fate's finger to Saber, who looked between him and Fate, trying to figure out the connection between them.

"That's an interesting question," her Master answered, before turning fully to Saber.

"Who exactly are you?"

"As I said before, I am Servant Saber," Saber stated, standing from her crouch. In a flare of light, her armor dispelled, drawing a few raised eyebrows from everyone gathered. "I was summoned to you side to take part in the Holy Grail War. As my Master, you are now involved in the War."

Her Master's eyes narrowed, before he sighed, and slumped.

"Not _ANOTHER_ Lost Logia!" he cried, anime tears shooting from his eyes.

Saber could only watch in confusion as everyone face palmed or face faulted, or followed her Master's example. It seemed that whatever a 'Lost Logia' was, it frustrated the gather people to no end.

**V*V*V*V**

**Aaaaaaaaaand done! Finally finished the next chapter. I hope this clears things up for those who were confused by the last chapter, however, I expect it will entice more questions as well. Yes, Kieren will be OP, but he will have trouble with SEVERAL of the Servant's. As stated above as a human, he will get exhausted long before a Servant will. Lancer only had trouble because Kotomine ordered him not to go all out during the first confrontation he has with anyone, but to gather knowledge he can use to his advantage in the next encounter.**

**Read and Review! Flames will be used to light your funeral pyres!**

**UFJ123 – Beta 27 over and out!**


	3. Explanations and First Contact

**Heeeeeeeeelloooooo everyone! Time for a new chapter of Fate/gungnir.**

**In this chapter, the TSAB crew explain their presence, and Saber tells them about the Holy Grail War. Also, we get to meet Rin and Archer around the mid-point of this chapter, maybe slightly before or after depending on whether or not I can think of anything else.**

**Anyway, onwards and upwards! Don't forget to review! Flames, once again, will be used to light your funeral pyres.**

**V*V*V*V**

**Chapter 3**

**Explanations and First Contact**

**V*V*V*V**

_Place: Time-Space Administration Bureau _L_-class Dimensional Cruiser _Arthra:

_Dimensional Coördinates: FN-25/SA-11/NV-02_

_Time/Date: 2045 hours, Mid-Childan New Calender 0070_

It had been roughly half an hour since Saber had been summoned, and already, the largest headache of her life was starting to form. She had sat in a chair for the past ten minutes, looking out a nearby window at the empty, glowing purple-blue mists that surrounded wherever she currently was. If what her Master had said was to be believed, she was currently on board a trans-dimensional space ship (whatever that was), locked in a dimensional orbit around the Earth, or Non-Administrative World #97 according to everyone in this place. She knew her Master was a Magus, but for this entire place to be filled with Magi, who normally wouldn't work together even if it was to save their own lives? She drew the line between truth and fantasy right there.

But, apparently, it was true. This ship belonged to a massive organization of Magi, the details of which she'd yet to be informed of, but it sounded similar to how Clock Tower and the Magus Association was described by Kiritsugu and Irisviel before the Fourth War.

Currently, her Master was off reporting to his superiors, and trying to gain any idea of what to do next. And so, Saber sat down and stared mindlessly into the colorful abyss of Dimensional Space. The whirls and eddies were quite fascinating and hypnotic really, now that she thought about it. Swirls and blues, red, and sometimes greens danced and mixed together in an endless cycle. And, if she looked hard enough, she could barely make out a strange, artificial structure in the distance. A Dimensional Bridge, apparently, used to connect dimensions incredibly distant from one another. According to her Master, he was native to Dimension A-01, the very heart of the omniverse, and the place from which all other universes initially diverged. In his words, if one went back in time far enough, one would always end up in Dimension A-01, no matter where or when you started. And, according to information given to her by Fate and the brunette Nanoha, he was correct, as they had accompanied him briefly to see his home world, the world from which all magic traced its origins from.

Al Hazard.

Supposedly a mystical empire that dominated the omniverse centuries ago according to Fate, in actuality, it was much, MUCH older, and a lot more technologically and magically advanced than previously thought. While Al Hazard went by the name of Earth nowadays by the inhabitants, the planet that everyone thought was only 4.6 billion years old was actually twice that age, and was the original home world of the Al Hazard. The Al Hazard's technological superiority allowed them to send the entire planet back in time through Dimensional Space to Dimension A-01. However, as planets are not originally meant to go through Dimensional Space, the surface was scorched and melted into a roiling planet wide ocean of molten rock and ash. It eventually settled into orbit around a young star, an orbit which was further stabilized by a planetary collision which created the moon.

To Saber, the whole story sounded like something straight out of Merlin's addled mind.

Any further musings were set aside when her Master entered the room, flanked by the blonde woman, Fate, and a dark blue haired man who looked the same age as her Master. They seemed to be in conversation.

"I had no idea TSAB was so concerned as to send an admiral, Chrono," Kieren said, who paid half a mind to Saber as she stood. "Let alone an _M_-class battlecruiser."

"High Command want's this put under wraps, captain. I'm simply here to hear our guests side of the story and then report back to HQ. What they do from there is anyone's guess. You know we can't reveal the existence of magic to a non-Administrative world," the man, Chrono, said.

"Mmm. You're right. Anyway, here she is," Kieren answered, turning his full attention to Saber. Saber felt the other man's eyes sweep over her, silently appraising her to see if she was the real deal.

"I suppose that this is the Saber person everyone on this ship is so fascinated by?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Kieren replied.

"I can see why."

"Master... who is this?" Saber asked. Kieren eyed her warily, before sighing heavily.

"... Master?" Chrono asked, a bemused expression on his face.

"It's a long story. Anyway, Saber, this is Admiral Chrono Harlaown. He's going to be asking you some questions in regards to this... War, of yours."

Saber nodded. If her Master was to be believed, these people already knew of magic, and were probably curious as to what the War entailed. She then turned her attention to Fate.

"I do not believe we were introduced properly," she said, her voice firm but soft. "I am Servant Saber."

"..."

Saber looked down, but then looked up when she thought she heard something.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I said my name is Fate," Fate said, now speaking louder. "Fate T. Harlaown."

"Harlaown?" Saber asked, looking between the blonde and blue haired male. They didn't look anything like each other.

"She's my adopted sister," Chrono answered for her, pulling his little sister into a one armed hug, which Fate quickly shrugged off, causing Chrono to pout and Kieren to snicker silently.

"And my girlfriend," Kieren said, doing the exact same, only this time, Fate snuggled into his side, a light blush on her cheeks and a content look on her face. Saber's Master had a large grin on his face, one that was on the verge of splitting it in two, if it was possible to reach that far. Saber was happy to see her Master so carefree in the presence of loved ones.

"But enough about relationships," Chrono stated, a serious look on his face, which caused Kieren to pull Fate into him tighter, his grin morphing into a slight frown in an instant, an action mimicked by Fate. It was interesting to say the least, to see someone who could change expressions on a whim.

Chrono gestured for Saber to sit down, which she did, an action that was copied by the other three people in the room, Chrono placing himself in a chair opposite Saber, while Kieren and Fate settled into a longer couch, still cuddling.

The four stayed silent for some time, simply watching each other. Saber opened her mouth to say something, but Chrono simply raised a hand, silencing her.

"We would like you to explain," he said. "About this... Holy Grail War."

Saber shut her mouth and nodded once.

"I do not see any problems with that," she said.

**V*V*V*V**

Kieren eyed off the armored woman who called him 'Master' with quiet contemplation. He knew that they were connected in some way, the slight strain on his sealed Linker Core was all the proof he needed. At present, the Limiter Seal reduced him to the rank of a B-ranked Composite Mage, and the connection between him and woman sitting proudly in the chair in front of him was draining at least ten percent of the magic he currently had access to. He could lessen the strain by unsealing some of his Linker Core, but with Chrono on board, he couldn't as only the highest ranking Mage could authorize the release of a Limiter Seal. Kieren was a Captain, Chrono was an Admiral, simple as that. When Chrono transferred back to the _Junis_, the ship that he commanded, he still wouldn't until it left. Currently, the _Arthra_ was one half of a two ship fleet, and until the _Junis_ left, Chrono was the highest rank Mage.

"Very well then," Chrono started. "What can you tell us?"

"What would you like to know? There is a lot," Saber answered.

"Start off with the War. From there you can explain what the Lost Logia 'Holy Grail' is and what is does."

Saber's expression flashed with confusion, but it was gone so fast even Kieren wasn't sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Very well. The Holy Grail War is a tournament that takes place every sixty years, however, this War is strange, as the last took place ten years ago. It is fought between seven Masters, who each summon a Servant from one of the seven classes. These Servants are pulled from the Throne of Heroes to take part in the War, for the chance to gain a single wish."

"A war for a single wish?" Kieren asked. Saber nodded. "Seems a little excessive."

"The wish can be anything. The winning Master and Servant will have the chance to wish for anything they want, even impossible dreams and fantasies. The Holy Grail will grant it."

"So this Holy Grail is a wish granting machine?"

Saber nodded. "Yes. However, only one Master and Servant may use it. The Grail will not appear until only one Servant is left."

Fate gasped lightly, clutching Kieren's side even harder than she was before.

"You mean..."

"Yes. All the other Servants must be killed before the Grail will appear before the winner."

Kieren felt all the blood rush out of his face, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Fate's face drain of color.

The fourteen year old blonde swallowed loudly, before asking in a quiet voice.

"Y... you... you mean... K... Ki... Kieren c... cou... could d... d... die?!"

"There is the possibility. Some of the more unscrupulous Masters and Servants will actively hunt the Master, as without one, a Servant cannot remain in the material world for long, unless they have a high Independent Action rank, which would allow them to remain long enough to form another contract with another Master."

"And that means?"

"Just killing the Servant does not automatically mean that a Master has been removed from the War. While they can head to the Church and seek protection from the moderator, they can also form another contract with a stray Servant."

"..."

The two humans and one artificial mage remained silent for a time, before Chrono spoke.

"Would you do it?"

Saber looked at him with confusion on her face.

"Would I do what?"

"Would you kill another Master?"

"No, I would not. To kill a defenseless person would go against my code as a Knight. Only if my Master used one of his Command Seals to order me to do so would I kill another Master," Saber answered truthfully.

"Command Seals?"

"The marks on the back of your hand, Master."

Kieren look at the back of his left hand. The intricate symbol wasn't glowing any longer, but the dark crimson stood out against his slightly tanned skin.

"What do they do?"

"The Command Seals serve a dual purpose. Not only do they mark your status as a Master, they also allow you a chance of Absolute Obedience from your Servant. However, using one consumes it, so you only have three chances before the Servant is free of your control. For example, using one of the Command Seals, you can call me to your side no matter how far apart we are at the time."

"You mean..." Fate started, looking quite surprised, as was Chrono and Kieren, all three of which were staring at the seals with something close to shock and awe. "These thing have the ability to _warp_ time and space?!"

"Not as simply. It is... quite complicated, and would take some time to explain. They can also give me a brief power boost. For example, if you were to say: 'Defeat Lancer', the Seals would give me enough power to completely remove Lancer from the War in short order."

Kieren nodded at that. He knew how frustrating it was when he fought that blue-clad man.

It was at this point that Saber turned to look at him.

"In fact, I am quite surprised you lasted as you did against Lancer, Master. No human has ever matched the abilities of a Servant as far as the information the Grail gave me upon my summoning. For you to do so, and cast a spell capable of going through even my own Magical Resistance is quite impressive, even if Lancer was limited in ability at the time, held back most likely by a Command Seal used by his Master."

"I was nearing my current limits as it was," Kieren responded, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I doubt I would've lasted much longer had I not summoned you."

"'Current limits'?" Saber asked.

"Each and every TSAB mage over a certain level has what is known as a Limiter Seal placed on them. It reduces the amount of magic they can use at any one time," Chrono explained. "Kieren here has the strongest Limiter Seal TSAB can safely use on him at the moment, as the amount of magical energy he has available is so great that if he get's too emotional, the pressure of the released magic alone is enough to kill a normal human, let alone any spells he uses."

Saber stared at that statement. Truly, her Master was powerful. Looking at him now, she could see he had a sad look on his face, and tears were starting to form in his eyes. Obviously, he had a bad experience with that particular event in the past.

"Is something wrong, Master?" Saber asked, curious as to what caused the sudden shift from relatively cheerful to downtrodden in such a short time.

"Kieren..." Fate started, rubbing her boyfriends back softly, hoping to calm him. "He had to watch his parents die in front of him. The amount a shock, anger and sadness that washed through him at the time was so great that he lost what control he had over his magic. The person responsible was wiped from existence, but the pressure and sheer killing intent being released was too much for his younger sister to handle. Her heart simply..."

Here, Fate trailed off, and pulled Kieren into her arms, hugging him tightly, even as silent sobs wracked his frame.

Saber was shocked and horrified by what she heard. She glanced at Chrono, and saw that even he had turned away at what had happened. Clearly, it was a traumatizing experience.

"Wh... when was...?"

"Three years ago."

Saber looked down, her heart clenching and berating herself for unintentionally causing her Master emotional turmoil.

"I... I am sorry, for bringing that up... Master," she spoke softly.

"It... it... it's okay," Kieren murmured, wiping his eyes, even as he sank deeper into his girlfriend's embrace. "You didn't know."

"That incident, and an event that followed shortly after we returned from Al Hazard, led to a law being passed by TSAB that penalized anyone who brought it up. Most mages, even those higher up in the ranks, know not to say anything, and will even turn a blind eye if someone intentionally brings the incident up. If they survive the pounding that Kieren, Fate, and/or Nanoha unleash on them, they're jailed, and stripped of any and all privileges that they may have. Most don't survive and sought of attack from Kieren himself, and it's getting rarer and rarer finding people who survive either Fate's or Nanoha's these days," Chrono stated. "Kieren himself is still going through regular counseling."

Saber nodded somberly. Something like that would mentally destabilize anyone.

"Now..." Chrono stated, clapping his hands. "Moving away from the past, I'm informed you want to know about us."

Saber nodded, casting the recent events into the deepest, darkest portion of her mind that she could, hoping that it would be forgotten _very_ quickly.

"Yes. I am confused as to who and what you are."

"Everyone on board this ship is a member of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, a trans-dimensional organization that administers and controls the existence of magic, keeping it a secret from those who are not yet ready to know of it, and training those who are capable of using it. This ship, the _Arthra_, is an _L_-class dimensional cruiser, and is normally the first to respond to any sort of dimensional disturbance. We actually came here to investigate a large dimensional fluctuation that was picked up on NAW#97, or Earth as the locals call it. We now know that it is this War you just told us about," Chrono explained.

"And... Lost Logia?"

Chrono sighed.

"Lost Logia... no-one likes to explain or get involved with them. Lost Logia is the name TSAB gave to extremely powerful magical artifacts left over by either Ancient Belka or Al Hazard. Kieren here could be considered a living Lost Logia, as he is the last Al Hazard mage, along with his and Nanoha's Intelligent Devices."

"Magical Devices," Kieren said automatically.

"Sorry."

"Intelligent... Devices?" Saber asked, now highly lost.

Kieren simply raised his right arm, showing Saber the black, orange and gold fingerless gauntlet that encased his arm and hand. A small, red-orange gem sat embedded in a mount on the back of his hand. Fate pulled out a triangular amulet with a yellow gem in the middle.

"These..." Fate started, gesturing at the two objects. "Are Intelligent Devices. Currently, they are both in Standby Mode. Chrono has one as well, but his is called a Storage Device. Intelligent Devices are more powerful than Storage Devices, but are consequently much harder to produce. Magical Devices, like Gungnir (here she gestured back to the gauntlet) are even more powerful than Intelligent Devices, but were only ever manufactured by the Al Hazard, and so, we only know of the existence of two: Gungnir, who is used by Kieren, and another Device that was initially thought to be an abnormally strong Intelligent Device, Raising Heart, who is wielded by Nanoha. There are two more types, the Armed Device, which is more combat orientated than a Intelligent Device, and the Unison Device, which can merge with its user to increase the strength of their spells and increase their reserves."

"There must be some kind of trade off," Saber said, remembering her lessons with Merlin when she was younger.

"There is," Chrono said. "Storage Devices don't have an AI, Artificial Intelligence, like an Intelligent Device and only have a single form apart from the Standby Mode, but are capable of processing magic much faster than an Intelligent Device. They are still much slower at doing calculations and processing magic than either Gungnir or Raising Heart, but that's to be expected of two Lost Logia designed while the Al Hazard was at its height."

Saber nodded slowly, seeing the logic in what Chrono was saying. Artifacts from an ancient, technologically and and magically superior civilization would be more powerful than a more recent civilization.

"Just... how fast can your... Device, process magic, Master?" Saber asked curiously.

"Hmm... from what I can recall, Gungnir can process magic rather rapidly, around about forty thousands units every ten seconds. Bardiche, Fate's Device on the other hand, processes roughly 18,000 units every minute, while Durandal, Chrono's Device, processes the same amount in half the time," Kieren explained.

"And Nanoha's?"

"Thirty five thousand every fifteen seconds."

Saber was impressed. That amount of magic put even Merlin to shame, and the fact the Kieren had palmed it off without even blinking meant that most TSAB mages had a _lot_ of power to call on.

That would help her greatly in her quest to obtain the Grail.

**V*V*V*V**

Rin Tohsaka sighed heavily as she looked over the Emiya household. She'd come here to find out if Shirou ever made it out alive, and was dumbstruck to see a massive scar in the earth, passing through one of the walls and into the trees nearby. The near overwhelming pressure from residual magic in the air made it hard to breath, and it had brought Archer into _partial visibility_, something she'd never heard of before. Archer himself was frowning heavily.

"Archer?" she asked her Servant. "Anything you can tell me?"

"Two Servants fought here. One was summoned shortly before the second, most likely Lancer, fled. And it seems Caster got involved as well towards the end, but the lack of presence doesn't seem to lend credibility to that theory."

Rin frowned. She _hated_ not knowing anything. Knowing that there was another Magus in _her_ city frustrated her beyond belief. The bounded fields, or more accurately, remnants, told he that Emiya was a Magus, one she hadn't known about. He was nowhere in sight or sense, however, so she couldn't take her anger out on him.

Suddenly, Archer stiffened next to her, materializing into the tangible world.

"Archer?"

"Two people, magi by the feel of it."

Rin grinned sadistically.

"Find them."

Archer vanished in a blur of movement, Rin running through the gates to the compound, pulling out several gems.

Archer landed on the roof. His previous self was nowhere in the house, and from the faint traces of magic he could detect under the more recent surges, hadn't been here since morning, meaning he hadn't summoned Saber like usual. This sent Archer cynical and analytical mind reeling, but he held his thoughts in line. Reinforcing his sight, he scanned the courtyard and buildings.

_There!_

Turning towards the flash of movement, he saw two people dressed in strange clothes, both carrying a long staff. Both were female, one with blonde, waist length hair, and the other with brown hair pulled up into a single ponytail on the right hand side of her head. The blonde was dressed rather daringly, in a black, one piece swimsuit like leotard with a pink half skirt hanging from her waist and a red cape, thigh high black stockings and metal boots. The staff in her hand resembled a large axe, with a yellow gem where the blade met the handle. It also had two odd cylinders coming off the gems mount.

The brunette was dressed much more conservatively. A primarily white outfit with blue and gold trimming. Metal bracers encased her wrists. From Archer's position, he couldn't make out any other details. Her staff was odd as well, a bright golden hoop with three spokes and a side missing surrounded a bright red gem, with a white and gold handle with, off all things, a rifle magazine just forwards of the upped grip. In Archer's opinion it was more along the line of a staff that a sorcerer like Merlin would use, however, it was clearly made out of metal of some kind, one outside of his knowledge when her did a quick Trace of both staves. It to, had two cylinders protruding from the ring, but they were closer to the handle. He Reinforced his ears to find out what they were talking about.

"I still can't believe Kieren roped my into this," the blonde complained. "If he had just...!"

"Calm down, Fate-chan!" the brunette chirped. "He just told us we had to come down here and scout the area and set up a teleportation link so we don't end up miles off course."

"And why couldn't he and that Servant of his do it?"

Archer cocked an eyebrow. _Servant?_ He thought.

"Because they're still talking with Chrono-kun."

"Tch. In my opinion he was using that as an excuse to get out of doing grunt work. He used to be down here as well."

"And now he's a captain and the commanding officer of a spaceship."

_Spaceship? What is she talking about?_

The blonde sighed. "You have a point, Nanoha."

The brunette, Nanoha, giggled slightly before holding up her staff.

"Raising Heart, please help set up a teleportation link."

_Is that girl addled..._ Archer trailed off and his normally impassive face morphed into one of shock when the staff _spoke_.

[Yes, my Master,] it said in a cheery, slightly mechanical female voice.

The ground beneath the brunette's feet glowed a bright pink as a magical circle, with _mathematical equations_ and odd runes between four mathematical symbols and two counter rotating squares suddenly appeared on the ground. The girl began to chant under her breath, and a faint, bluish circle began to inscribe itself onto the ground. The blonde girl on the other hand, gripped her axe-staff and cast wary glances around the area, constantly keeping an eye out. Archer was mildly impressed. He sensed his Master nearing and was about to move to meet her, when he felt a spike in ambient magic.

The blonde girl, had _vanished_. He could faintly make out a yellow streak racing straight towards his Master.

_A Servant?_ Archer thought. There was no way a human could move that fast, even with magic.

Still, he had to protect his Master. With a blur of psuedo-motion, Archer _moved_. Twin Chinese falchions appeared in sparks of prana in his hands, and he arrived just in time to stop a massive glowing scythe from slamming into his Master. Rin stood there, shocked for a moment, before she regained her bearings and jumped away.

Archer pushed his body as fast as he could, ducking and dodging, weaving in and out of his opponents strikes. The girl was incredibly fast, her yellow scythe tracing glowing trails in the air. Sparks flew as Traced metal met magical energy blade. The blows had some serious strength behind them, if you were human. The girls red eyes were fixed entirely on Archer. However, Archer could tell she was more than aware of her surroundings, and proved this when they next broke apart, dodging the black sphere that streaked towards her.

"Bardiche!" the blonde yelled.

[Sir,] the scythe answered, making Archer almost lose his focus.

_TWO talking staffs?_

[Zanber Form.]

The scythe blade vanished, and the axe head swung down, long side pointing up instead of down like it previously was, before the blade split right down the middle of the edge and swung 180 degrees to the other side. In a flash of light, a massive glowing yellow blade as long as Archer was tall fizzed into existence. A steely expression on her face, the girl leapt forwards, even as the staff/axe/scythe/claymore spoke again.

[Sonic Move.]

The girl buzzed, like static, before she completely vanished. Archer's eyes widened in shock.

_That's faster than Lancer!_

His instincts suddenly screamed at him to duck. Having never got as far as he did ignoring them, he did so, barely missing the massive energy blade that swung through the space where his neck was, carving a burning path through the air. Archer dodged again, leaping through the air and landing on the roof, letting the damaged Kanshou and Bakuya shatter into prana, before materializing a new pair before the prana had even dispersed.

If the girl in front of him was surprised, she was damned good at hiding it. Leaping straight up and back, Archer was shocked to see small wings sprout from her ankles, holding her in the air. Several glowing balls of magic appeared in the air around her. She drew her blade back, even as the six balls merged into a large one in front of her.

[Plasma Smasher,] the staff intoned, a gleeful edge to its, _his_, voice.

Fate swung, slamming the blade into the ball, and sending out a massive arc of electricity, aimed directly at Archer. His eyes widening in shock again, he leapt straight up, letting the arc obliterate the roof and part of the building he was standing on. Archer floated in the air for a moment, letting himself overcome the shock. Lightly touching down on another roof, he quickly Traced his bow and _broke_ another nameless sword in his armory, knocking, aiming and firing it faster than the girl could think. Her eyes widened, and she brought her sword around to block.

An explosion rocked the sky as the broken blade slammed into her with the force of an RPG round.

Archer knocked another broken blade and aimed again, before letting fly at the middle of the smoke cloud. The arrow/sword passed through, exploding when it hit something.

He waited. Even if this girl had somehow survived the first shot, the second would've finished her. She was no Servant, that much was clear. He was then surprised to see that both shots had done nothing. The reason:

A glowing yellow barrier between the arrows and the girl. Her teeth were grit in effort, but the obnoxious voice of the staff sword spoke out in a smug voice.

[Protection.]

**V*V*V*V**

Fate panted. Her reserves had been strained severely blocking those explosive arrows. She probably only had enough for two Arc Sabers before she succumbed to exhaustion. Three if she canceled Flier Fin.

_Nanoha!_ She called. The telepathic cry reached her friend just as she finished setting up the teleportation link to the _Arthra_.

_Fate-chan! Are you alright?_ Came the concerned reply from Nanoha.

_I need help,_ Fate answered. _I'm running low on magic, and I can't release the Limiter Seal without prior permission._

_Hold on Fate-chan!_

Fate glared at the white haired archer below her, but the intensity was lowered by her exhaustion. The archer knocked another arrow, but decided that was a bad idea when he heard something.

"DIVINE BUSTER!"

A pink beam of destruction screamed through the space he'd previously occupied. Fate was glad that they set up a barrier before hand, keeping the people outside from knowing what was going on. The Earth mage on the ground was hiding, a good idea on her part. TSAB mages, especially Nanoha, Fate and Kieren where known to cause some kind of collateral damage. Nanoha always did the most out of the three due to her being more focused on Bombardment-type magic to Fate's Precision and Speed-type and Kieren's Sniping-type. Of course, both and Fate and Kieren had their moments. The holder of the Most Collateral Damage in One Engagement Award went to Kieren a year back when he cast Solar Storm for the first time. It ended the battle right then, but wiped out an area of the Mid-Childan terrain the size of several city blocks.

"I'm sorry!" Nanoha called, flying up next to Fate. "You're interfering with TSAB operations."

The archer looked confused.

"TSAB?" he asked. "Is that similar to the Magus Association?"

Fate and Nanoha looked at each other and shrugged.

"We wouldn't know, never heard of them."

"... I see." The Archer raised his bow. "Still, I can't let you live with what you've seen."

He was about the pull back on his bow string when the seal Nanoha was etched into the ground lit up, glowing a brilliant yellow. The seal rotated, even as an exact copy rose up from it, rotating in the other direction. There was a flare of light, then Kieren appeared along with Chrono and several Enforcers. All had their Devices out and Barrier Jackets equipped. A blur of blue and silver revealed the presence of Saber-san as she leapt towards the black and red clad Archer, whose eyes widened. He couldn't dodge.

"Archer! Vanish!"

Archer did so, barely avoiding the invisible blade that carved through the air. He was still there, as they could see, just intangible.

""Wha...?"" Fate and Nanoha breathed.

Saber then turned her attention briefly to the floating girls, before leaping straight at the Earth mage. Kieren and Chrono saw this, and instantly they raised their Devices.

""Chain Bind!"" they both called. Twin magic arrays, a red-orange square and blue circle respectively appeared in front of them, before several chains of magic shot out and grabbed hold of Saber, halting her progress just short of the dark brown haired girl who had revealed herself to get Archer to dodge. The girls eyes were wide in fear and shock, and Saber was struggling against the chains.

"Master!" she shouted. "She's an enemy Master!"

"She's also a human being! And if you weren't paying attention, she's the Master of Archer, who from what you told us, has a high Independent Action skill!" Kieren shouted back. "Servants are fair game, humans aren't!"

Saber stopped struggling. Kieren had raised a point. Just because she killed the Master didn't mean Archer couldn't escape and find a new one. And, as much as she hated it, she appreciated her Master and his CO from stopping her from killing the girl. It went against her code as a Knight to kill unarmed opponents.

"Very well," she said, letting her sword vanish, waiting to be called upon in the future. "I concede to you point, Master."

The Earth mage looked between Saber, Kieren and Chrono as the chains faded into sparks of magic. Her eyes were filled with a mix of confusion, fear, anger and awe. In her mind, seeing two human Magi cast a strange spell and stop a Servant with such little effort was a shock to her. The anger she felt was in embarrassment to seeing the ease with which that spell, which she could feel had more magic in one link of the chains than she had in her entire body, and all the gems on her person _combined_. Soon, the events of the night caught up with her, and her eyes rolled back into her head, falling over in a dead faint.

**V*V*V*V**

**Poor Rin... she couldn't handle seeing flying humans, spells powerful enough to demolish buildings, teleportation and Binding spells strong enough to hold back a Servant.**

**Well, that's it for this chapter. 10 pages size 11 font in OpenOffice. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Read & Review. Again, flames will be used to light your funeral pyres!**

**UFJ123 – Beta 27 over and out!**


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